Versatile cooler rack

ABSTRACT

A merchandise rack for attaching to a cooler door has a base arm and two frames for supporting items, such as bottles, in the rack. The base arm and frames are positioned parallel to one another, and each has their ends hingedly connected to side members on the rack. These hinged connections allow the positions of the base arm and frames to shift relative to one another so that the entire rack can be shifted. When shifted, the rack can support bottles or other items diagonally and can position in one of two vertical orientations on the cooler door. When not shifted, the rack can support the bottles or other items vertically in the rack while positioned horizontally on the cooler door.

BACKGROUND

Cooler racks are used on glass doors of coolers to display beverage bottles and other merchandise to consumers and also to provide additional shelf space within the cooler. Typical cooler racks are made to attach to the cooler door in one orientation, and this limits how these cooler racks can be used. For example, the typical cooler rack may be restricted for use with certain merchandise, on certain coolers doors, or on certain places of the cooler doors depending on available space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a versatile merchandise rack according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates another side view of the disclosed rack.

FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of a frame member for the disclosed rack.

FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view of a side arm for the disclosed rack.

FIG. 5 illustrates a plan view of a base arm for the disclosed rack.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate the disclosed rack in different orientations on cooler doors.

FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate another versatile rack having a base tray.

FIGS. 8A-8B illustrates yet another versatile rack having a base frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A versatile merchandise rack 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 has parallel frames 20 a-b, a merchandising plaque 30, a support arm 40, and side arms 50. Most of the rack 10 is composed of a metal wire that has been welded together and coated with enamel or the like, although other materials can be used for the structure and/or the coating. For example, the structure of the rack 10 can be formed from plastic and may not be coated.

The parallel frames 20 a-b are substantially the same. For example, one of the frames 20 shown in the isolated plan view of FIG. 3 has edge wires 22 a-b interconnected by a plurality of interconnecting wires 24. These interconnecting wires 24 define item slots 26 in the frame 20 for holding beverage bottles or other items.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower frame 20 b has the merchandising plaque 30 connected at about the edge's mid point. The upper frame 20 a has three suction cups 60 connected along one edge, and the lower fame 20 b has two suction cups 60 connected along one edge. Ends of the suction cups 60 fit into looped ends 25 at some of the dividing cross members 24 to connect the suction cups 60 to the rack 10. Although use of suction cups 60 is preferred for attaching the cooler rack 10 to the glass door of a cooler, other temporary attachment devices and even fasteners can be used instead of or in conjunction with suctions cups 60 to attach the rack 10 to various types of surfaces.

The frames 20 a-b are positioned parallel to one another, and the support arm 40 runs parallel to the frames 20 a-b. The support arm 40 supports the bottom portion of the bottles or items in the rack 10, while the frames 20 a-b support mid-portions of the bottles or items in the rack 10. The side arms 50 a-b connect inside both ends of each frame 20 a-b using first hinged connections 52 a-b and connect to the support arm 40 using second hinged connections 52 c. To form the first hinged connections 52 a-b, for example, the side arms 50 a-b have tubes (54 and 56 in FIG. 4) welded thereon, and these tubes receive curved ends of the frame's edge wires (22 a-b in FIG. 3). To form the second hinged connections 52 c, the side arms' distal ends each have an eyelet (58 in FIG. 4) that movably connects with a central rivet to one of the forked ends (48 in FIG. 5) of the support arm 40.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the various hinged connections 52 a-c allow the entire structure of the frames 20 a-b, support arm 40, and side arms 50 a-b to shift or tilt while the frames 20 a-b and the support arm 40 remain substantially parallel to one another. This ability to tilt or shift allows the versatile rack 10 to be used in either a horizontal position (shown in FIG. 6A) or in opposite vertical positions (shown in FIGS. 6B-6C) to support multiple bottles or other items on a cooler door. The tilting or shift can be about 30-degrees or so in either direction, although other degrees of tilting are also possible depending on the implementation, size and shape of items to be supported, etc.

FIG. 6A shows the rack 10 in a horizontal position on a cooler door. In this position, the bottles fit into the slots 26 of the frames 20 a-b, the support arm 40 supports the bottom of the bottles, and the suction cups 60 attach the rack 10 horizontally to the cooler door. In this position, the rack 10 may or may not be tilted as described above.

FIGS. 6B-6C show the rack 10 in vertical positions on cooler doors. Again, the bottles fit into the slots 26 of the frames 20 a-b, the support arm 40 supports the bottom of the bottles, and the suction cups 60 attach the rack 10 vertically to the cooler doors. In the vertical positions, however, the rack 10 is shifted or tilted so that the bottles fit diagonally in the rack 10 and are better supported therein. As also shown in FIGS. 6B-6C, the rack 10 can fit vertically along either side of a left or right-handed cooler door by shifting the rack 10 either way before attaching it to either side of the door.

Regardless of the positioning of the rack 10, the merchandising plaque 30 is visible through the cooler door and remains substantially vertical or horizontal even through the rack 10 is shifted or tilted. As best shown in FIG. 2, the merchandising plaque 30 can include slotted slides 32 allowing an interchangeable or reversible insert 35 to be positioned in an open edge of the plaque 30. This versatility enables the merchandising information displayed on the insert 35 to be rearranged to suit the position of the rack 10 on the cooler door.

An alternative merchandise rack 12 illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7B has an upper frame 20 but lacks a lower frame and support arm as in the previous embodiment. Instead, a base tray 70 connects by the side arms 50 a-b to the frame 20. This base tray 70 has a bottom surface 72 and sidewalls 74 for supporting the bottom of the bottles or other items positioned in the rack 12. When the rack 12 is shifted as shown in FIG. 7B, nodules, protrusions, or similar structures 76 on the bottom surface 72 can engage the tilted edges of the bottles supported diagonally in the shifted rack 12 and prevent the bottom of the bottles from slipping along the bottom surface 72.

Another alternative merchandise rack 14 illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8B also has an upper frame 20 but lacks a second frame and support. Instead, this rack 14 has a support frame 80 that connects to the frame 20 by the side arms 50 a-b. The support frame 80 has intermediate cross-members 86 on which the bottom of the bottles rest. These cross-members 86 can be cylindrical or flat and can be formed from wires just as the frame's cross members 24. When the rack 14 is shifted as shown in FIG. 8B, these cross-members 86 support the edges of the tilted bottles when positioned diagonally in the shifted rack 14. With the benefit of the three exemplary supports for the bottom of the bottles or items (e.g., support arm 40, base tray 70, and support frame 80, it will be appreciated that other arrangements can be used to support the bottom of the items when positioned both vertically or diagonally in the disclosed rack.

The foregoing description of preferred and other embodiments is not intended to limit or restrict the scope or applicability of the inventive concepts conceived of by the Applicants. For example, although the present disclosure described use of the merchandise rack to be used as a cooler rack on the glass door of a cooler, it will be appreciated that the rack can be supported on any suitable surface for displaying merchandise. In addition, even through use of the rack was described in the context of supporting beverage bottles, the rack can be used to support any suitable item of various shapes and sizes. For example, the items can take the form of bottles, cans, bars, boxes, packages, bags, cups, etc.

In exchange for disclosing the inventive concepts contained herein, the Applicants desire all patent rights afforded by the appended claims. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims include all modifications and alterations to the full extent that they come within the scope of the following claims or the equivalents thereof. 

1. A merchandise rack, comprising: a base member supporting a bottom portion of one or more items in the rack; a frame member positioned parallel to the base member and supporting another portion of the one or more items in the rack; a first end member movably connected to a first end of the frame member and to a first end of the base member; and a second end member movably connected to a second end of the frame member and to a second end of the base member.
 2. The rack of claim 1, wherein the frame member is shiftable relative to the base member to diagonally support the one or more items in the cooler rack.
 3. The rack of claim 1, further comprising means for attaching the rack to a surface.
 4. The rack of claim 1, wherein the base member comprises a tray, a plate, a bar, an arm, or a rod.
 5. The rack of claim 1, wherein the frame member comprises first and second edge wires interconnected by at least two cross wires, the edge and cross wires forming one or more slots to support the one or more items in the frame member.
 6. A merchandise rack, comprising: a base member supporting a bottom portion of one or more items in the rack; a first frame member positioned parallel to the base member and having one or more first slots to hold one or more items in the rack; a second frame member positioned parallel to the first frame member and having one or more second slots to hold the one or more items in the rack; a first end member having first movable connections to first ends of the base member, the first frame member, and the second frame member; and a second end member having second movable connections to second ends of the base member, the first frame member, and the second frame member.
 7. The rack of claim 6, wherein the base member comprises a tray, a plate, a bar, an arm, or a rod.
 8. The rack of claim 6, wherein the first frame member comprises first and second edge wires interconnected by at least two cross wires, the edge and cross wires forming the one or more slots to support the one or more items.
 9. The rack of claim 6, further comprising means for attaching the rack to a surface.
 10. The rack of claim 6, wherein the first frame member comprises a plurality of first suction cups connected thereto to attach the rack to a cooler door.
 11. The rack of claim 10, wherein the second frame member comprises a plurality of second suction cups connected thereto to attach the rack to the cooler door.
 12. The rack of claim 6, wherein the first frame member comprises a display plaque connected to thereto.
 13. The rack of claim 12, wherein the display plaque has slotted edges to receive a removable insert therein.
 14. The rack of claim 6, wherein the first and second movable connections permit the positions of the first and second frame members and the base member to shift relative to one another while remaining parallel.
 15. The rack of claim 14, wherein the first and second frame members permit the one or more items to be supported diagonally in the rack when shifted.
 16. The rack of claim 6, wherein the first movable connections to the base member comprises a hinged connection between an eyelet on the first end member inserted into a forked end on the base member.
 17. The rack of claim 6, wherein the first movable connections to the first frame member comprises a hinged connection between one or more wires on the first frame member at least partially inserted into a tube attached to the first end member.
 18. A merchandise rack, comprising: a base member supporting a bottom portion of one or more items in the rack; at least one frame member positioned parallel to the base member and having one or more first slots to hold the one or more items in the rack; a first end member having a first movable connection to one end of the base member, and a second movable connection to one end of the at least one frame member; and a second end member having a third movable connection to another end of the base member, and a fourth movable connection to another end of the at least one frame member.
 19. The rack of claim 18, further comprising a plurality of suction cups attached to the rack to support the rack on a surface.
 20. A merchandise rack, comprising: means for attaching the rack adjacent a surface; means for holding a bottom portion of one or more items in the rack; means for holding at least a mid portion of the one or more items in the rack; and means for shifting position of the mid portion of the one or more items relative to the bottom portion to support the one or more items diagonally in the rack. 